Highest Graded Captain Marvel Adventures 1 on eBay 0

[sfcityduck]

eBay seller "Blissard" put up on eBay for $100K one of the two highest graded Captain Marvel Adventures 1. 

Captain Marvel Adventures #nn (#1) Shazam Highest Graded Fawcett 1941 CGC 5.0 | eBay

Questions abound:  

Does his family's collection include a better copy?  Actually, Blissard answered that one in his listing:  "I actually own the other 5.0 copy (and I have no intention of ever selling it), so the one offered here is truly the best available copy that you may ever come across."  Really interesting answer! Was he talking about his personally collected books or books in the family collection. Who owns the Church copy?  The other 5.0 sold in 2009 on Heritage. It has higher ow page quality but some glue and staples sufficiently ready to detach that Heritage advised against cracking it out.  Here's what Heritage had to say about the other 5.0:

Quote

A crime worthy of Sivana himself was committed... when this book was called a mere 5.0! We mean no lack of respect for the Solomonic graders at CGC (more on the condition below), we only mean to say that in terms of eye appeal, this is by far the best copy any of us have ever laid eyes on. We doubt very much that you'll disagree once you've looked at our scan.

This issue is one of Overstreet's Top 30 Golden Age books, and there are not that many copies of this book out there, period. Overstreet notes that the book is "rarely found in Fine or Mint condition" because it was printed on poor paper stock. And it's worth noting that most of the noted "pedigree" collections lack this particular comic.

As to what flaws could possibly have led to such a low grade (though still the highest yet assigned for this issue)? Admittedly, the bottom staple appears to be either detached or nearly so, and the top staple looks tenuous enough that we wouldn't recommend cracking this book out to give it a few reads. We suspect that's the reason for the technical grade. But other than some scuffing along the spine, there's nothing else here that we could imagine any collector being displeased with. By all means, take a look at the scans in our online archives of other unrestored copies we have offered to see the flaws that typically afflict this book -- you will quickly hurry back to this winner! To most eyes, this is a high-grade copy.

CGC notes, "Very minor amount of glue on spine of cover." Overstreet 2009 VG 4.0 value = $5,500; FN 6.0 value = $8,250. CGC census 10/09: 2 in 5.0, none higher.

Is there any other GA superhero mega-key with a lower graded "highest graded" copy?  

Is $100K too high, too low, or just right?  Blissard has this to say: "I paid $38k for this book (in 2016); since then, there have been two Shazam movies, a Black Adam movie, and prices of virtually every Golden Age key have seen substantial growth.  This one has admittedly lagged behind, largely due to the fact that there are simply no nice copies of this book out there (it's hard for a book to gain momentum when copies almost never come up for sale)." 

Does anyone care?

Edited March 17, 2023 by sfcityduck

[LDarkseid1]

Hmm, amazing book and truly unbelievable that we haven’t seen anything above a 5.0 hit the census. I know he has best offer, but I would think somewhere in the $50K range seems about right. I mean a 4.5 sold just last year for $30K. I can’t imagine one of the 5.0’s, despite being highest graded is going to go bananas over the 4.5 sale. Also I really don’t think the movies have done much for this character’s books. I mean Shazam 1 from the 70’s saw a nice rise for a while but it’s gone down.

Edited March 17, 2023 by LDarkseid1

[comicparadox]

Blissard is Son of The Dentist, is he not?

[bobpfef]

On 3/17/2023 at 12:38 AM, comicparadox said:

Blissard is Son of The Dentist, is he not?

Yes

[sfcityduck]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:36 PM, LDarkseid1 said:I can’t imagine one of the 5.0’s, despite being highest graded is going to go bananas over the 4.5 sale. Also I really don’t think the movies have done much for this character’s books. I mean Shazam 1 from the 70’s saw a nice rise for a while but it’s gone down.

 

If you want the highest graded copy of a mega key of one of the most important GA superhero’s then this may be your one chance.  To me CMA 1 is like Superman 1 - the low grade of the highest graded copy should not hold it back.  Best is best and price should reflect that.  So I tend to think the upside for this book may be good - especially if Blissard’s DAd is not potentially sitting on a “best” ungraded copy like he is with so many other books like Superman 1.

 

[sfcityduck]

The point that this book illustrates is this question:  

What SHOULD impact price more - grade or relative grade?

Example: What is more desirable to you?:

* Highest graded CMA 1 (1941 - 37 blue - tied with one other) or

* Fourth highest graded WW 1 (1942 - 121 blue - tied with 9 others and 6 presently higher) or even fifth highest (tied with 7 others and 16 presently higher).

The market seems irrational to me when grade is more important than relative grade for equivalent books. Especially when there has been an explosion in the population of higher grade WW 1s in recent years.

[MattTheDuck]

Assuming money's no object, I would personally opt for the highest graded copy of a cool/key book I wanted regardless of how high that grade might be.  In this particular case it helps that it appears unlikely, if still possible, a better copy will come along and supplant this copy as "highest graded."

[sfcityduck]

On 3/17/2023 at 7:34 AM, MattTheDuck said:

Assuming money's no object, I would personally opt for the highest graded copy of a cool/key book I wanted regardless of how high that grade might be.  In this particular case it helps that it appears unlikely, if still possible, a better copy will come along and supplant this copy as "highest graded."

In this example you can get the top graded CMA 1 for about the same price as the fifth highest WW1.

Just seems the boasting rights for top graded rare CGC 5.0 GA (1/2 - none higher) key are higher than for fifth tier CGC 7.5 (1/7 - 16 higher). 
 

Which begs question why?  My answer: Same as the kid’s - rarity, ironically and nonsensically, drives down prices in this hobby sometimes.

Edited March 17, 2023 by sfcityduck

[N e r V]

The paper makes it a tough book but for a 100k I’d rather wait for a higher graded raw to beat the 5.0’s. It’s not going to be by a lot but there’s some 6ish+ waiting to depart a collectors dead hands one day…

 

 

[LDarkseid1]

No I mean it’s a spectacular book. Yet even with the Shazam movies, nothing has been able to boost Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures to some new level of sales or popularity. I think they’ve gone up a little though. And to be clear, that 4.5 sale was towards the tail end of the boom when everything was still selling strong. There’s no doubt Blissard’s 5.0 is worth a good amount more than he paid at the time of purchase, but I’d be surprised to see anyone offer close to what he’s asking. I think at auction it’s a clear $50K, maybe $60K book. It’s crazy when you think about the difference between CMA1 and Supes 1 also! I mean, a PLOD .5 Supes 1 is about to sell for more than that 4.5 did last year! They’re just not in the same universe.

Edited March 17, 2023 by LDarkseid1

[sfcityduck]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:45 AM, N e r V said:

The paper makes it a tough book but for a 100k I’d rather wait for a higher graded raw to beat the 5.0’s. It’s not going to be by a lot but there’s some 6ish+ waiting to depart a collectors dead hands one day…

.

 

 

Now this is an argument that I understand.  If there are multiple better known raw books out there, then buying a CGC 5.0 just because it is momentarily the "highest graded" makes little sense if what you really want is the "best copy."  And if you know what you are looking at in a CGC 5.0 may turn out to be the third or fourth or fifth best copy, I can see why demand would be low.  

[LDarkseid1]

At this rate, there isn’t going to anything above a 5.0 ever.

[rjpb]

I've never understood the mania over highest graded copies, as unless the HGC is at the top level one would ever expect to find for a book of a given age, there is no guarantee that HGC status will remain for the book. In addition it's still a subjective call as to whether the HGC is the "nicest" copy, even among slabbed copies. I understand a relative premium when a book is difficult to find above a certain grade, particularly for GA books when sometimes anything better than 4.0 can seem impossible, and where a nice midgrade copy might as well be high grade in terms of the potential to find another copy as nice let alone in better shape. 

[rjpb]

On 3/17/2023 at 11:04 AM, LDarkseid1 said:

At this rate, there isn’t going to anything above a 5.0 ever.

There are 10 restored copies n 6.5 or better, I wonder if any of them are a candidate for resto removal and still being able to grade at better than 5.0?

[LDarkseid1]

On 3/17/2023 at 2:08 PM, rjpb said:

There are 10 restored copies n 6.5 or better, I wonder if any of them are a candidate for resto removal and still being able to grade at better than 5.0?

Interesting point, yeah maybe. Most of those tend to have too much resto, but you never know. Maybe there’s a sneaky 8.0 with slight ct, waiting to be worked on.

[LDarkseid1]

Well, there is this 8.0 from a 2002 Heritage sale with the note of “glue on spine”, just slight P. If the glue could be removed, who knows 🤷‍♂️

Edited March 17, 2023 by LDarkseid1

[Gotham Kid]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:45 PM, LDarkseid1 said:

Well, there is this 8.0 from a 2002 Heritage sale with the note of “glue on spine”, just slight P. If the glue could be removed, who knows 🤷‍♂️

[Robot Man]

On 3/17/2023 at 11:04 AM, LDarkseid1 said:

At this rate, there isn’t going to anything above a 5.0 ever.

That is highly unlikely. With a book this popular at the time, I suspect there were a lot published.

The trouble with relying on the CGC census, it it does not take into account how many collectors, especially old school collectors who have not graded their books.

50 years ago, long before he became “Shazam”, Capt. Marvel was almost as popular as Superman amongst collectors.

A 5.0 ain’t that hard to beat…

[LDarkseid1]

On 3/17/2023 at 3:38 PM, Robot Man said:

That is highly unlikely. With a book this popular at the time, I suspect there were a lot published.

The trouble with relying on the CGC census, it it does not take into account how many collectors, especially old school collectors who have not graded their books.

50 years ago, long before he became “Shazam”, Capt. Marvel was almost as popular as Superman amongst collectors.

A 5.0 ain’t that hard to beat…

You would think so, but 23 years in and still nothing. Also it’s more than just the CGC census. The paper this book was printed on was notoriously unstable and defect prone, making it very tough to get in higher grade. So with that aspect to, it may be possible we won’t see anything for a long long time, or ever for that matter that’s higher than the two 5.0’s. Unless as previously stated, someone can undue a plod copy. However, you are correct, it was extremely popular at the time and likely had a sizable print run. Estimated print run of Whiz 2 was 500,000. CM1 came out roughly a year later. So would think it would be in the proximity of Whiz 2, maybe somewhat higher.

Edited March 18, 2023 by LDarkseid1

[tth2]

On 3/17/2023 at 9:01 PM, sfcityduck said:

The market seems irrational to me when grade is more important than relative grade for equivalent books.

Why?  There are some collectors that have no interest in fugly books, even if they're the least fugly copy in existence.  Least fugly might still mean really fugly. 

Edited March 18, 2023 by tth2